Welcome to the Coastal Rainforest Research, Wildlife Conservation & Community Projects blog, where you can keep up to date with all the projects and information from GVI in Costa Rica

Global Vision International (GVI) is a non-political, non-religious organisation, which through its alliance with over 150 project partners in over 30 countries, provides opportunities for volunteers to fill a critical void in the fields of environmental research, conservation, education and community development.

Facts and Figures Quepos Community Project

Ongoing education support to over 330 primary school students within 2 local schools (2011-2012)

227,400 hours of Primary School students hours taught (2011-2012)

Over 1700 hours of English classes taught to adults and secondary school students (2011-2012)

Volunteer led English lessons with the 5 best students in each grade within the structure of El Cocal Primary School and Maria Luisa Primary School in Boca Vieja.

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Monday, October 24, 2011

The weekly walk from the GVI Biological Station in Jalova to the town of Tortuguero has commenced once again, after about a month of hiatus. These “Jag Walks,” as they’re referred to around base, are a physically challenging 15-mile hike on the beach, sometimes in the scorching sun, other times in the pounding rain (but never during lightning!), documenting the predation of jaguars on sea turtles and the presence and abundance of jaguar tracks on the beach. Only 2 weeks into my position as staff member with GVI, I was lucky to be given the chance to participate in a Jag Walk. Like many experiences down here, this would turn out to be quite a memorable day.

After gear preparation and a solid breakfast, the 5 of us (Benji, me/Kevin, Zach, Li, and Helen) started our walk at 5 AM. As there had been no jag walks for a while, we started encountering predated turtles immediately and rarely had much time or distance before the next. Sometimes the jaguars leave the turtles on the beach, while other times they drag them into the vegetation as much as 20 meters to have more privacy and secrecy, so finding the turtles often requires a keen eye. Each predated turtle was marked on the GPS, measured if the carapace (shell) was in intact, and photographed. In addition to the turtle work, we also collected information on the jaguar tracks on the beach, with special attention being given to the places where the jaguars enter or exit the beach.

We had expected quite a few jaguar tracks, but as the day went on, we found an even higher level than anticipated, with nearly every section containing tracks. Some sections had tracks of at least 3 different jaguars, including a cub, while other sections very close to people (near Tortuguero and near Jalova) also had tracks, which has not been typical until the last few years. There was definitely a mutual feeling of excitement among our group at finding so many fresh tracks of such an elusive animal. For predated turtles, we had expected to find upwards of 20 or 25 on the whole hike, but by Mile 10, slightly over half way, we had already encountered 38 predated turtles. We took a much needed break to eat lunch and decided that due to the slow pace this many turtles required, we would have to stop counting turtles and fast-track it to Tortuguero. Before packing up, Zach spotted a group of dolphins breaching the water a couple hundred meters out, improving an already good day. This wasn’t our only wildlife on the journey. We also found a Brown Wood Turtle down by the waves – an unusual place to find that species – and jaguar claw marks going up a tree near a predated turtle, but unfortunately no sign of the jaguar itself. The last section of a hike like this is always rather difficult, and this day was no different, but after 9 hours and 40 minutes of hiking we arrived in Tortuguero, looking like we had walked from South America, but in good shape aside from some sore feet and sweaty clothes. We promptly concluded and celebrated our day with some extremely satisfying and deserved pizzas and smoothies before catching our ride on the boat taxi back to base.

In addition to the usual turtle and jaguar work, there was also an unfortunate, yet important, part of the day. Signs of poaching were found on various turtles, and it was clear that poachers had scoured the beach the previous night, harvesting turtle meat and possibly eggs. Nonetheless, the day was undoubtedly a success and the information we collected will be very useful in our studies on jaguars. With the data collected by the group walking this coming week, we will have a full view of the jaguar predation over the last month. Despite the surprise of finding a shockingly high number of turtles, it does help reaffirm and validate the information that’s been coming in over the last few years, from GVI’s studies and from elsewhere, documenting the sharp increase in jaguar predation on sea turtles. This is a phenomenon that is still poorly understood, but is hypothesized to be due in large part to human impacts (habitat fragmentation, hunting of jaguar prey species, etc.). Therefore, these jag walks will continue to be a crucial part of the study and conservation of jaguars and turtles.

quotes from the field...

"The work carried out by GVI Costa Rica makes a vital contribution to conservation and scientific research and personally speaking, I am proud to be able to say that I played a part in this project."
Michelle Miller, 10 Week Volunteer

"Having a truly incredible time here at Caño Palma. Every day here is amazing and brings exciting new things to see and do."

"The location is brilliant, the people are great and the wildlife is fantastic. So far I’ve seen green turtles, two-toed and three-toed sloths, coral snakes, a vine snake, green iguanas, basilisk lizards, a Neotropical river otter, caiman, crocodiles, strawberry poison-dart frogs, howler monkeys, spider monkeys and white-faced capuchin monkeys to name just a few!"

"I also see loads of beautiful birds every day, including the two stunning species of toucan found here."

"I’m enjoying everything we do here but some of my favourite things so far have been the grueling 15 mile Jag Walk, climbing the rainforest-clad Cerro (hill), and of course the ever exciting turtle night walks."

"Getting to count a turtle’s eggs whilst she lays them is a real privilege, which I’ve been fortunate to experience twice so far. Measuring a turtle, helping tag and doing the body check are also great to do, even if you do get covered in sand and occasionally whacked by a flipper!"

"Walking through the rainforest and traveling along the canals are other things I love doing here, as the scenery is wonderful and you always see some really interesting things."

I can’t really think of anything bad to say about this place, even the frequent rainstorms, the humidity, the early mornings and being woken by screaming howler monkeys just adds to the experience, and it’s certainly worth being filthy and covered in various insect bites to be here.

I can’t wait to see what other amazing experiences 5 more weeks in Costa Rica will bring." Alex Page from the UK, Expedition Member from July-September 2008

“I was impressed with the level of professionalism of the GVI staff, who were helpful, enthusiastic and clearly passionate about the work they do here at Jalova. I have had a wonderful time and feel inspired to use the knowledge I have learnt in the classroom. Thank you very much." Mrs Ali Omell, Turtle Project Volunteer